Report of speech by MAAF member - Sep 03
The following is a report from MAAF Member Richard Cotter after he and a friend spoke on behalf of MAAF at a meeting of NY Atheists 25 Sep 03
I attended the NYC atheist mtg last night to speak about MAAF with Jack and another secular friend. The evening went very well. We had an atheist gathering of about 45 people with about 6-8 women. There were both male and female prior military there. Ken opened the meeting then introduced me: Richard Cotter.
I spoke about MAAF for about 25 min. I gave an overview of MAAF and touched on issues MAAF is working on like; tags, the VFW, BS A charter issue, chaplain/secular support, military school prayer issues, membership,Lake Hypatia, Alabama military atheist memorial, EO stuff like the religious cards I dealt with in my unit... I spoke about the media and Bob Schieffer of CBS and his public apology regarding atheist in the foxhole. About the atheist, humanist symbol approved /on military headst ones and those in Arlington cemetery.
I then introduced Jack and he spoke for about 30 min on his experience as an atheist in the foxhole-delta in Vietnam. His story was well received. There were many Q & A throughout the evening. The audience was very good and had all sorts of questions. The entire event could not have been better. They filmed it too. At the end I read the atheist in the foxhole poem from the Lake Hypatia web page. The audience closed with a big applause for us and MAAF.
Ken gave me an Oak framed certificate of appreciation. I referred them to the website which I wrote on the board and to call me if interested or if they know anyone interested. They asked for pamphlets which I don't have and am not aware that we have yet. It would be an excellent idea to have MAAF pamphlets which all atheist groups could have for themselves and to put on there tables when they hold public info gatherings. Also a guy suggested that MAAF might want to contact Mensa.org. He said something like there is a high percentage of prior military in Mensa and a high percentage that are atheist. He suggested that MAAF speak with them about this and perhaps get MAAF on the American site for Mensa and in their newsletter.
Rich